Thomas Farmer [CV]
PO BOX 703 Black Diamond, Alberta, Canada
studio@fracturescapes.art
The Living Fracture
My practice centers on a strict negotiation with time, topography, and timber. Harvesting fractured wood across Alberta’s Eastern Slopes and their adjacent ranges that has been shaped by wind, gravity, and the elements, I treat each piece as a structural archive of the landscape. Through Fracture-Scaping, I highlight alpine terrain directly onto raw surfaces that were created by the structural failure itself.Pure Medium, Structural Truth
Bound by respect for the material, there is no mechanical reshaping above the base cut, no sculpting, and no synthetic resin. Every work relies solely on targeted heavy-body acrylics to illuminate the natural split topographies— leaving fragile bark and rough-hewn edges preserved as unaltered witnesses to the environment that forged them.Provenance & Stewardship
Each sculpture is linked to its origin through precise geographic coordinates and permanent digital provenance. To honor these ecosystems, an active closed-loop stewardship model redirects 10% of gross sales to local conservation organizations dedicated to protecting the specific region of harvest.Navigate to...
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1.4a-FSN-2026
Harvest Date - June 6, 2026
Harvest Location -
Elevation - ~1364m
Timber Permit # - LTP4626012 (permit issued effective June 8. Forester release email obtained)
Stabilization Start- June 6, 2026 (24% Moisture) - Fan-assisted drying in cool, dark setting
Stabilization End -
Treatment- June 12, 2026 (~7% non-toxic disodium octaborate tetrahydrate. Pressure sprayer applied.)
Cause of Failure - Co-dominant Stem Failure, likely due to wind and/or snow load
Species - White Spruce
Base Width - 17-5/8”
Height - 21”
Conservation Commitment - TBD
Acrylic on Wood - Natural Fracture-Scape Artifact
#1.4a -FSN-2026 was the fourth site explored from my very first commercial harvest on June 6 2026. It is denoted “a” because two viable pieces came from this fracture. This is the trunk of what I believe is a fallen co-dominant White Spruce. I assume the failure was caused by stressors like wind and/or snow, however, its co-existence with another tree likely also was a factor. It likely fell during late-spring 2026, based on the fairly fresh nature of the shear when I discovered it, and, given the April/May weather events that occurred during that period. #1.4a is the felled side of that failure.
Harvested under a commercial permit agreement on June 6, Savage Spire was treated with disodium octaborate tetrahydrate on June 12 2026. It is still awaiting completion of the full stabilization process. Savage Spire was the second completed